My recent trip to Thailand brought me to Central Embassy, the newest luxury shopping complex in central Bangkok.
Bangkok is a fashion-forward city known for its trendy high street fashion and bargains. I’ve been to Bangkok over a handful of times now and it is one of my favourite destinations to visit in Southeast Asia. There’s an undeniably strong stylistic energy there that I find so exciting and inspiring.
Central Embassy, a one-stop new luxury retail in Thailand defines style, class and elegance to the fullest. Built with an objective to meet all needs as well as represent sophisticated lifestyle with beyond excellent service under the concept “Infinite Possibilities: All possibilities will happen here”, the infinity-shaped Central Embassy building – when viewed from the top – is divided into two parts: the 8-storey shopping center (Retail Podium) and the Tower which is location of Park Hyatt Hotel (Tower). It is one-of-a-kind building in Thailand where the building itself is 3D curved in front, side and top, and the stunning facade is constructed from shimmering shingles that punctuate the continuous, rippled frontage to pay homage to traditional Thai temples.
Easily accessible from either BTS Chidlom or BTS Ploenchit stations, Central Embassy houses more than 200 luxury and high-end brands, including Christian Loubutin, McQ, Maison Martin Margiela, Proenza Schouler, Kurt Geiger, A.P.C., Isabel Marant, and many more. The seven facade brands are luxury heavy-hitters such as Bottega Veneta, Chanel, Gucci, Hermés, Miu Miu, Prada and Ralph Lauren – each spanning a two-storey duplex facade (read: ultra comfortable shopping in a very spacious setting). However I am primarily interested in getting acquainted with Thai designer labels and am happy to discover them at Central Embassy.
BOYY
A graduate from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, Wannasiri Kongman is one of the pioneers of the Thai fashion accessory scene. Boyy features unique minimal bag designs but utilizes a variety of fine and exotic animal skins, from washed cow leather to leopard and python. Very luxe and elegant.
Something Boudoir
Originated with ‘kids-in-a-candy-store’ attitude, aiming to excite and animate, Something Boudoir combines the aesthetics of candy emporium with a notion of designer’s supermarket to create the world of imagination and a shopping destination for the young urbanites who love changing the world. A representation of fantasy and joy, and at the same time, offering endless possibility of fun and an affordable intermixture between street and designer.
77th
Vibrant jewellery by 77th’s designer Phongmanas Sawaddichai is a cheerful antidote to edgy unisex jewellery, featuring playful pieces in bold primary colours referencing the Byzantine age, Frida Kahlo, vintage art, the Mexican Day of the Dead, fantasy movies and Carmen Miranda fruit bowl hats.
Pony Stone
Pony Stone’s cutting edge collections regularly feature in Thailand’s fashion pages and on the backs of celebrities. Express your inner punk princess with this funky shop’s signature ripped denim and leather designs, complete with chains and shackles.
Irada
A modern and classy Thai fashion brand featuring outfits using quality fabric, with tasteful twists in tailoring and playful pops of color. I find the collections on display to be graceful, feminine and minimal, but with a flash of boldness.
SIWILAI
The first distinctly Thai retail marketplace, SIWILAI shares international fashion that compliments the Thai lifestyle in a uniquely curated retail experience. It is known for bringing together the excitement and trends of pan-Asia, NYC, and Europe, mirroring the fast-paced change of pop-culture and sociopolitical tide shifts worldwide. The word SIWILAI itself is a pun of “Civilization”.
If this J.W. Anderson blouse I’m holding looks familiar, that’s because I tagged it here before. Gawd, it felt so good to fondle this baby! *heart eyes*
After a quick pitstop at the Embassy Lounge, where VIP customers can rest and relax in style (clothes shopping in Bangkok is quite a marathon), it’s time to eat and refuel! There’s no shortage of stand-alone eateries in Central Embassy, including a Bangkok outlet of Chikalicious, one of my fave NYC dessert bars.
The last time I was at Chikalicious was back in 2007, eesh. I guess there’s no need to travel all the way back to NYC now as the Bangkok location definitely has a lot more seating (compared to the tiny 20-seater at East Village) and I’m pretty sure this one’s open daily (instead of only four days out of the week; I never understood that – they’re closed every Mon, Tue, Wed).
I was hankering for Thai food and had to find out what the food court has to offer so I had my lunch was at Eathai, a food galleria on the lower level comprised of four distinct sections: Krua 4 Pak, Street Food, Issaya Cooking School and Eathai (supermarket). There were way too many delicious dishes to choose from in the Krua 4 Pak section, meaning “food from four regions of Thailand” – North, Central, Northeast and South. Tsk, decisions, decisions…
In the end, I settled for Beef Noodle Soup (my default when in Thailand) but went for the indulgent version with Wagyu ribeye from the Street Food section.
I didn’t get to check out Issaya Cooking Studio as I had a lot of ground to cover after lunch and was eager to look at more Thai designers’ collections… but joining a cooking class is something I am always interested in experiencing so I must return to Bangkok again, hopefully ASAP!
Will blog a bit more about the rest of my Bangkok trip over the next few days (ie. MORE Thai labels), so check back soon. :)
X,
Mb.
Traveling to Bangkok?
PS: My sincerest thanks to Central Group for the opportunity to tour Central Embassy.
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